Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,428
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Post by Mozenrath on May 18, 2022 18:41:13 GMT -5
Sometimes, even comedians who are very talented or smart people can get really self-righteous. They also can be a bit hypocritical, wanting to be the court jester who takes a microscope to taboo topics, but then they'll also say, "It's just jokes" to minimize what they do if they receive any scrutiny, themselves. It all depends, really. Some are bigger people than others.
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on May 18, 2022 19:07:47 GMT -5
It's funny that this is the first response when your sig is exactly what the OP is talking about. I'm British, so I love cynical comedy. But I agree if you do nothing but complain about what you "can't" joke about, the problem lies in your material or lack of it. Absolutely this. Comedy is in no danger from people being offended – people have been offended by comedy since comedy began – rather, it's comedians who can't move with the times who are in danger of losing their audience.
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Post by Toilet Paper Roll on May 18, 2022 20:07:03 GMT -5
There are a lot of bad comedians.
There are clever ways to bring up and dissect the world but so many are just lazy.
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Post by sfvega on May 18, 2022 20:20:46 GMT -5
There are plenty of comedians now who hit on a premise and hammer out jokes that aren't offensive. There are also plenty of great storytelling comedians out there. It's just an issue of seeking it out. It's the same as if I said there hasn't been any good rap in 15 years, people who actually follow it are going to say "No, you just haven't looked much." You can find dirty, but not offensive comedians. You can find clean, hilarious (and positive) comedians. You can also find great comedians who happen to be offensive. It has a lot to do with how you interact with comedy. If it's only hearing about Dave Chappelle and the sort and why they're in the news, it's going to be negative. But if you listen to Nate Bargatze or Joe List or David Gborie or Ron Funches, it's not a cancel culture drum being banged over again. Comedy today is a nuance issued. For these people, it is their livelihood but one that has a LOT of people drawing lines around what they think comedy is and isn't. That is difficult to navigate being that there's more content than ever, there's a taboo about similar bits, and there's a constantly changing line of what is and isn't in good taste. There are plenty of people who say just make different jokes, but tell those people to make an original and witty commentary, and you start to see more of an issue. Which isn't to say that things can't change so we won't try, but you're basically looking at (just like anything else in this world lately) two groups who aren't going to tolerate people doing things not their way. Luckily, comedy is moving along despite those two groups' "help". I'm reminded of Jerry Seinfeld complaining that he wouldn't be able to perform in front of college crowds these days because of how PC everyone is. Sure it's an audience he hasn't performed for in decades, one that he wouldn't consider lowering himself to even if they loved his gay french king impressions, but he's heard from friends that they might not love his act as much as they did three decades ago and that's good enough for him, they may even *Gasp* heckle him, something that's a recent development in comedy audience reactions and down to those goshdarn woke kids. Comedy is continually evolving and the most established comedians will always complain about that fact, there'll always be some that give interviews saying the audience is wrong for having changing tastes. They shouldn't have to adapt, they've made a fortune so to them the world is exactly the same now as it was when George H.W. Bush was in office, why won't people whose parents were still in school when they were at their peal worship them? There are plenty of times in the past when club comic types would have bombed in front of college crowds, for a myriad of reasons. You also can't fault him for not "evolving", when in the mid-2000s that would have meant raunchy and over the line jokes. Seinfeld didn't do that because that's not who he is, moreso than a failure to evolve. Seinfeld has gotten less offensive in his latest specials, even for a guy who at one time was known as the cleanest of clean comedians. It all cycles and there's talent even in guys who say things that I disagree with. I cringed a lot when I would see an Anthony Jeselnik set and I ended up disliking his shtick, but the man was and is undoubtedly very witty and a gifted writer. He just found humor in saying awful things in jest, and there was a crowd for that. I think the issue now is that a lot of the fans of these problematic comedians aren't taking these things in jest at all. Chappelle, who I'm still a fan of his talent, but he seems to be taking pleasure in antagonizing an entire group of people. That's not in jest.
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Post by Starshine on May 18, 2022 20:22:28 GMT -5
Comedy has always been policed. None of this shit is new. The people complaining about it now are just the ones upset that they're getting called out. No one is stopping them from saying anything they want, they just don't like getting criticised, or whatever.
Comedy also evolves, like everything else. What was funny 10 years ago may not be funny anymore, that's just how things go sometimes. Either keep up with the culture, or get left behind, that's the choice.
But back to the topic at hand, no, there are still a lot of great comedians out there doing good work. Don't dwell on the dinosaurs.
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Post by Cyno on May 18, 2022 21:09:26 GMT -5
Comedy has always been policed. None of this shit is new. The people complaining about it now are just the ones upset that they're getting called out. No one is stopping them from saying anything they want, they just don't like getting criticised, or whatever. Comedy also evolves, like everything else. What was funny 10 years ago may not be funny anymore, that's just how things go sometimes. Either keep up with the culture, or get left behind, that's the choice. But back to the topic at hand, no, there are still a lot of great comedians out there doing good work. Don't dwell on the dinosaurs. Case in point, blackface used to be fairly common in comedy acts some decades ago. Then when it started being seen as taboo, comedians at the time were throwing similar fits to the ones yelling about cancel culture now. On the other end of things, Lenny Bruce got arrested for obscenity because he performed blue. George Carlin had to fight the FCC in court over his seven words bit. Comedians have it easy these days compared to them.
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unc40
Dennis Stamp
Posts: 3,640
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Post by unc40 on May 18, 2022 23:16:34 GMT -5
Seems like people who complain about others being thin-skinned are usually thin-skinned themselves.
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Post by Dave the Dave on May 18, 2022 23:39:31 GMT -5
You should look up different comedians. There are plenty of great ones still. So no, complaining isn’t all comics do.
I’ve been one for 8 years now. Outside of basically Twitter and old rich people, there’s a lot of good stuff out there. A lot of long time vets are still very good. I can give suggestions if wanted.
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Post by Feargus McReddit on May 19, 2022 4:00:37 GMT -5
You should look up different comedians. There are plenty of great ones still. So no, complaining isn’t all comics do. I’ve been one for 8 years now. Outside of basically Twitter and old rich people, there’s a lot of good stuff out there. A lot of long time vets are still very good. I can give suggestions if wanted. Like anything else, it's older people who don't know when to quit gatekeeping others and talking about why things aren't like it was in my day where there was no controversy whatsoever and nobody got offended.
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on May 19, 2022 4:04:51 GMT -5
You should look up different comedians. There are plenty of great ones still. So no, complaining isn’t all comics do. I’ve been one for 8 years now. Outside of basically Twitter and old rich people, there’s a lot of good stuff out there. A lot of long time vets are still very good. I can give suggestions if wanted. Like anything else, it's older people who don't know when to quit gatekeeping others and talking about why things aren't like it was in my day where there was no controversy whatsoever and nobody got offended. Or people too young to remember the "good old days" and lack any kind of context or knowledge of the times they hearken back to.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on May 19, 2022 4:46:31 GMT -5
You should look up different comedians. There are plenty of great ones still. So no, complaining isn’t all comics do. I’ve been one for 8 years now. Outside of basically Twitter and old rich people, there’s a lot of good stuff out there. A lot of long time vets are still very good. I can give suggestions if wanted. Like anything else, it's older people who don't know when to quit gatekeeping others and talking about why things aren't like it was in my day where there was no controversy whatsoever and nobody got offended. 'In my day nobody got offended because we didn't listen to the voices of the people we were punching down on as they had minimal political power and next to no representation in the media to help people develop more sympathy toward them. We just bullied them and everyone who matters laughed.'
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